Lady of Fortune, Jiao Niang

Chapter 40

Throughout the journey, Ye Jiao never lifted the curtain to look outside.

Usually when riding in the carriage, Little Ginseng always liked to peek and look around outside, but today Ye Jiao never did this, afraid that lifting the curtain would let wind in and blow on Qi Yun.

Since the White Rainbow Fruit hadn't yet formed and life-saving things weren't in her grasp, Ye Jiao naturally had to be cautious and careful about everything.

She only had one husband, so naturally she had to treasure him carefully.

Qi Yun could also see that Ye Jiao was nervous about him. Feeling warm in his heart, he reached out and gently grasped Ye Jiao's hand.

Little Ginseng leaned against the soft cushions, feeling the carriage's bumping, and simply leaned directly on the man's shoulder, muttering: "How much longer?"

Qi Yun estimated: "At most another cup of tea's time and we'll be there."

Ye Jiao maintained her position leaning against Qi Yun, reached into the food box and took out a candied fruit to put in her mouth, eating until her cheeks bulged, making her speech somewhat unclear: "Husband, tell me what we'll be able to see later."

Qi Yun adjusted his position to let Ye Jiao lean more comfortably, then told her about it.

According to folk custom, the fifteenth day of the first month, the Lantern Festival, was the proper day for flower lanterns, but actually preparations began before New Year, and by New Year's Day everything was already decorated with lanterns and full of festive spirit.

From the first to the fifteenth, this half month was given to the common people for celebration.

Ancient poets once wrote: "The east wind releases thousands of flower trees at night. More blown down, stars like rain. Precious horses and carved carriages fill the road with fragrance." This described exactly the current grand scene.

Fireworks bloomed in the sky like falling stars and rain, flower lanterns sparkled all around, pedestrians filled the streets, creating the utmost liveliness.

Because of the crowds, scenes of people shoulder to shoulder often appeared. When people were enjoying themselves, they might drop hairpins and accessories without noticing.

So some people would carry small lanterns in the latter half of the night, walking back and forth on the streets searching for and picking up these lost small items to sell, often making a small windfall.

Hearing this, Ye Jiao unconsciously touched the jade hairpin on her head: "This is what my husband gave me, I can't lose it."

Qi Yun grasped her hand tightly, smiling: "As long as Jiao Niang is here, it doesn't matter much whether other things are lost or not."

Ye Jiao poked him: "Husband, that's not right to say. Everything was bought with the silver you earned. You work so hard every day, if they were lost, wouldn't that be wasting your hard work?"

Hearing this, Qi Yun replied seriously: "My wife is absolutely right. I was careless."

Ye Jiao could tell he was humoring her, so she ignored him and took another candied fruit to put in her mouth.

At this moment, the carriage stopped. Tie Zi said from outside: "Second Young Master, Second Young Mistress, we've arrived." His voice paused: "There are so many people outside, the carriage probably can't get through."

Ye Jiao didn't speak, just looked at Qi Yun, waiting for him to decide.

But Ye Jiao didn't know this was also Qi Yun's first time coming out to browse the streets, so naturally it was his first time encountering such a situation.

However, Qi Yun looked exceptionally composed. He lifted the curtain to look outside, identified their location, then said: "Let's get down first. Tie Zi, store the carriage at the wine shop nearby. We'll retrieve it when we return."

Tie Zi agreed and brought over a low stool to help them down from the carriage.

Ye Jiao wore a moon-white dress with a padded jacket and a red cloak outside, looking charming and elegant.

In contrast, Qi Yun was in his fluffy fur coat and fluffy hat, wrapped up tightly, and all in black. If he were in a dark place, he would probably blend into the night.

But many people on the street wore masks or carried objects made of bamboo frames covered with white paper, so Second Young Master Qi felt he wasn't too strange.

While Tie Zi went to park the carriage, the two took Little Su and wandered around nearby.

Before long, Little Su's hands held several paper packages containing small items Ye Jiao had bought. None were large, and they weren't heavy to carry.

But Ye Jiao didn't buy any food. Probably having been spoiled by the skilled cooks in the Qi household, Ye Jiao had become somewhat picky about food.

Qi Yun kept his eyes on Ye Jiao, carefully staying close to his wife, afraid of being separated by the crowd.

Losing anything else was fine, but he absolutely had to watch over his wife.

After a while, Qi Yun saw Ye Jiao stop in front of a jade goods stall.

Calling it jade goods was generous, it was more like some low-grade trinkets, from pendants to earrings.

The prices were also cheap, mostly around ten to twenty wen, and the jade quality mostly belonged to the lowest grade.

Though the vendor thought Qi Yun looked like a big furry ball wrapped up so bulkily, he could tell it was good quality fur. Ye Jiao was also dressed exquisitely, so he immediately put on a smile: "Happy New Year, sir and madam! What would you like to choose? Everything here is good stuff brought from the South Seas!"

Since the vendor couldn't see Qi Yun's face clearly, he couldn't estimate his age, so calling him "sir" was always safe.

Qi Yun didn't mind and glanced over the stall without much interest.

Though Second Young Master Qi had never actually strolled through the streets, he had seen plenty of fine things. Items of this quality probably wouldn't even catch his eye.

But now Ye Jiao was staring directly at a stone placed in the corner, tugging Qi Yun's sleeve: "That one looks really beautiful."

Qi Yun's eyes followed hers, then he raised his eyebrows in some surprise.

It was a piece of jade that looked rather inferior. Unlike other jades that were completely white or emerald green, this one appeared somewhat light purple with a thin crack running through it, looking like a damaged piece of scrap material.

Seeing Ye Jiao was interested in this stone, the vendor immediately smiled.

He always claimed his stones were brought by South Sea trading teams, but actually, as an ordinary vendor, where would he get money to commission people to bring things back from the South Seas? At most he bought some low-grade jade that others didn't want, or scavenged things people had thrown away.

This stone was something he had picked up and kept for quite a while, but he'd never found a buyer. He'd brought it out today just to try his luck.

After all, not only was the color unattractive, but it also had cracks. These cracks went through the entire piece of jade and couldn't be concealed no matter how you tried. Giving it away would be a waste since he was reluctant, but now seeing someone wanting to buy it, he was naturally overjoyed.

So the vendor prepared to praise his purple jade properly, but before he could speak, Qi Yun asked: "I wonder where you acquired this jade?"

The vendor immediately boasted: "This jade has crossed seas and sailed oceans! I spent quite a bit of money to get it from a South Sea trading team. Sir, look at this color, this quality, this..."

"Name your price," Qi Yun said flatly.

Seeing him like this, the vendor's eyes rolled and he directly held up two fingers: "Two hundred wen, not a wen less."

Ye Jiao didn't know jade prices, but Qi Yun did. This quality of jade couldn't fetch much at all. This vendor was definitely asking an outrageous price.

But Qi Yun calmly said to Ye Jiao: "Jiao Niang, could you give me a silver ingot?"

Ye Jiao immediately took out a small silver ingot from her money pouch and handed it to him. The vendor's eyes went straight when he saw it.

Though the silver ingot was small, it looked to be worth at least five hundred wen!

Qi Yun looked at the vendor: "As long as you tell me where this jade really came from, explain it clearly, I'll give this to you."

The vendor didn't hesitate at all and spilled everything he knew: "I got it from a trading team a while back... no, no, no, bought it! They usually go to sea in summer and return in autumn. Right now they should be resting, staying in a large mansion in the city. The owner's surname is Sun, anyone can find them by asking around."

Qi Yun nodded and directly gave the silver ingot to the vendor, then picked up the jade stone and handed it to Ye Jiao, smiling: "For you."

Ye Jiao didn't think there was anything wrong with using her own silver to buy something as a gift for herself. After all, this silver was given to her by Qi Yun to manage, essentially their shared money, so naturally expenses should come from here.

But after they walked away, Ye Jiao asked him: "Husband, since he said he'd sell it for two hundred wen, why did you insist on giving him so much?"

Qi Yun never hid anything from Ye Jiao, explaining everything clearly in detail, and this time was no exception: "I wasn't buying the jade, but the information. Now that our wine shop has grown and we're making more money, some items are hard to find and we need to commission trading teams to search for them. But trading team affairs are usually hard to inquire about. Being able to learn about it from this vendor is good fortune."

Ye Jiao blinked: "You spent money to buy good fortune?"

Qi Yun held her hand: "Yes. The bargains in this world can't all be taken advantage of. When you encounter good luck, you can't be stingy, otherwise it's not fortune but misfortune."

Ye Jiao nodded with partial understanding, keeping this in mind to ponder slowly later.

At this moment, Tie Zi had also returned, and the group walked toward the town center.

There were many flower lanterns along both sides of the street, plus enclosed stages for variety shows and street performances. Every place was very crowded.

Ye Jiao kept holding Qi Yun's hand tightly, staying close to him. Her eyes looked around with fresh curiosity, but she never thought of leaving Qi Yun's side.

At this moment, someone called out to Qi Yun: "Could this be Second Young Master Qi?"

Qi Yun turned his head, and his eyes visible outside his coverings saw a well-fed middle-aged man.

He had never seen this person before, but Tie Zi, who often ran errands for Qi Yun outside, immediately recognized the man and quietly told Qi Yun: "Second Young Master, this is Manager Sun from the money exchange."

Hearing this title, Ye Jiao immediately remembered. Wasn't this the Manager Sun who had been framed by the thugs the Cai family hired to cause trouble at the wine shop last time?

Manager Sun had also recognized Tie Zi, which was why he had tentatively called out. Seeing that the big black furry ball actually stopped, he knew he hadn't mistaken the person. He stepped forward and smiled especially amiably: "It's rare for Second Young Master Qi to come out. For me to encounter you is truly fate." Then he looked at Ye Jiao and said cheerfully: "Second Young Master and his wife are truly a talented man and beautiful woman, a perfect match. You're certain to grow old together."

Qi Yun, seeing his intention to show goodwill, softened his voice and said: "We appreciate Manager Sun's kind words."

But Ye Jiao looked at Manager Sun with some confusion, not quite understanding how he could tell they were a talented man and beautiful woman when her husband was wrapped so thoroughly that his face couldn't be seen.

Being accommodating in business was most basic. Having encountered his future ally, Qi Yun chatted a bit more: "Why is Manager Sun wandering the flower lanterns alone?"

Manager Sun smiled bitterly: "It's not that I wanted to be alone. Originally my wife and I agreed to stay in the city together to see the lanterns. Who knew she heard from somewhere that the flower lanterns here were beautiful and insisted on dragging me along. So here I am, but then she wanted to buy things and disappeared with the servants, leaving me alone."

Manager Sun sounded pitiful, and Little Ginseng could hear his grievance.

But Qi Yun noticed him saying "stay in the city," and thinking of the vendor's earlier mention of the trading team staying at a mansion with the surname Sun, couldn't help asking: "So Manager Sun also has a residence in the city?"

Manager Sun laughed cheerfully: "It's just ancestral blessing, leaving me a Sun family mansion. If Second Young Master has free time in the future, you could come to my residence for tea and to admire flowers. I would certainly welcome you warmly."

Indeed, the trading team was staying at this Manager Sun's house!

Having gotten confirmation, Qi Yun's lips curved slightly upward, though it couldn't be seen clearly with the hat covering him, but his voice became much more gentle: "Then I'll certainly have to impose on you sometime."

Ye Jiao saw Manager Sun and Qi Yun chatting animatedly, so she didn't interrupt, standing obediently beside Qi Yun without letting go of his hand, still holding it tightly. But Little Ginseng's eyes wandered to look around nearby.

Then she saw a stall just three steps away with a flower lantern hanging above it.

The flower lantern was made of pearls, with five-colored pearls woven into a net in the shape of a jade rabbit, with tassels hanging below for decoration, looking especially eye-catching.

This was the largest flower lantern Ye Jiao had seen since arriving in town, so she couldn't help looking at it a few more times.

At the same time, several other people were also attracted by this flower lantern.

"Commander Ye, the master and mistress said they want to see the lanterns," Liu Rong said close to Ye Ping Rong's side.

Ye Ping Rong had been following not far behind Prince Duan Chu Cheng Yun and Princess Duan Meng Shi, not daring to relax for a moment. Hearing this, he asked: "Aren't these all lanterns?"

Liu Rong pointed at the jade rabbit pearl flower lantern: "The master said they want to see that one."

The jade rabbit flower lantern hanging there was indeed conspicuous. Ye Ping Rong immediately said: "Let's go, follow them. Also tell the brothers not to stay more than two zhang away from the master."

"Yes."